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Wednesday, December 31, 2014

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR COMMENTING!!~BLOG HOP IS NOW CLOSED FOR ENTRIES~HAPPY NEW YEAR~!!

明けましておめでとうございます～！

I am so thrilled and honored to be a part of this blog hop to THANK YOU for following me through my blog on my creative journey!

Today I'd like to share a layered and textured Happy New Year card. I was inspired by a card that Designer Christina Griffiths shared on Spellbinders® Blog recently. By adding gold mirror and white cardstock, it creates a festive new year celebration - don't you think?

Labels Forty Dies #6 and #7 were cut/embossed with the gold mirror cardstock and Labels Forty Decorative Elements Dies #3 and #4 were cut/embossed with white cardstock. Nest the die cuts together to their corresponding sizes and they fit perfectly! I adhere them together with E-Z Runner® Permanent Strips.

To give the smaller Labels Forty/Forty Decorative Elements die cut dimension, I placed 3D Foam Squares - Regular to the back and adhered.

For more sparkle, I heat embossed gold embossing powder to the sentiment on white cardstock and hand cut a ribbon tail on both side.

I wanted to layer a little more gold behind the sentiment so I cut/embossed JustRite Papercraft's exclusive Vintage Filigree Layer die with gold mirror cardstock. So beautiful! To adhere this intricate design, I used 4 x 6" Adhesive Sheet (just the center part).

Just add pearls and place on a 5 x 7" white card base and it's ready to send out!

Now to the goodies! As a way to thank you all for always visiting my blog (if you're new, please become a follower on FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram), I have a fun assortment to give away (some you can't see but let's just say you won't be disappointed! LOL!). Simply leave me a comment on this post and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, January 6th. International entries are welcome!

Here is the list of my fellow hoppers - ENJOY THE INSPIRATION!! Your next stop is Lee Ann Barrett!

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Hope that you are with loved ones or remember those who are no longer with us. Hosho and I are missing our fathers so thinking of them during the holidays :)

What are some of your traditions? Ours is getting a Christmas cake from our local Japanese bakery. BUT the kicker is eating BEFORE dinner! It is made mostly of cream so it doesn't last long. After a BIG holiday meal, we are TOO FULL to eat dessert. SO why not START with dessert (around 3pm)?! LOL!! Then dinner is usually around 7pm...enough time to recover! HA!

Today I wanted to share one more Christmas project that I created with Spellbinders Beacon St. Chapel (right now it's not on their website - sold out so fast! LOL! Will be back in a couple of weeks), using Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® product to put it together! What do you think? I used the tree light bulb inside the chapel for a wonderful glowing effect :)

First I cut/embossed all the pieces from the die set. Note: you have to cut the roof piece twice (white cardstock), chapel wall twice (white glitter cardstock), big window six times (black glitter cardstock) and small windows four times (black glitter cardstock).

I used a combination of Crafty Power Tape, E-Z Runner® Permanent Fine Adhesive and 4 x 6" Adhesives Sheets to put together the chapel structure. Note: I used vellum to cover the window openings before adhering the window panes.

For the chapel roof, I covered it with adhesive using the 4 x 6 Adhesive Sheet. Then I sprinkled chunky silver glitter and press. Tap off excess. Repeat the process for the steeple roof.

I had an idea! I cut/embossed the steeple structure with vellum to use the window cut outs to cover the window panes. They leave an edge from the window pane exposed (and have adhesive on them) so it's easy to add the windows in! I used Dodz - Small to adhere the roof and steeple to the chapel roof.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Hi there! I'm up on Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® Blog with a quick idea to bring sparkle into your gift giving. Using the 3D Foam Shape - 3D Foam Trees to put together a wine tag that will bring a smile to your recipient instead of using a boring wine bag.

I started with a sheet of 3D Foam Trees shapes. First I covered the surface with anti-static powder to control the glittery mess :)

Went a little crazy on the glitter - just bought a pack of 18 WONDERFUL COLORS! LOL!! So some have tri-color (just tear the liner ⅓ of the tree, add glitter and repeat two more times to achieve the effect), silver, teal, yellow, etc.

After I decided which tree to use, I took off its trunk liner and colored it with Stamper's Big Brush Chestnut Pen - I colored two coats (dry between coats).

Saturday, December 13, 2014

I created a mixed media canvas themed around my family and maybe this is something for you to try and give as a gift. Using Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L® products, I secured the family photo to the die cut mat and "popped" up it for dimension. Let's get started!

For the background, I used Faber Castell® Design Memory Craft® Chalkboard Paint and Gelato® colors. I love how the black contrasts against the colors :) By using the water mister and baby wipes, I was able to blend into a wonderful background.

The butterfly stencil from StencilGirl Products was my inspiration for the canvas. Isn't the design amazing and designed by my uber talented friend, Maria McGuire! I used E-Z Runner® Repositionable Dots to secure the stencil to the canvas. When you're done, just rub off the dots.

I cut/embossed Labels Thirty-Nine Decorative Accents die with thin chipboard to use as an anchor for the other side of my dark butterfly. Next paint the entire piece with Chalkboard paint.

Metallic colors are in trend so I edged with Design Memory Craft® Champagne Gold Gelato® to my photo and canvas for a subtle highlight. Next I melted thin slivers of the color with water using my Palette knife on wax paper, and flicked with a watercolor brush to create splatters.

After assembling everything, I placed enamel dots and sequins with Dodz™ Small. Lastly, I hand wrote "FAMILY - we don't have our act together but together, we have it all!" LOVE it! LOL! Another look at the finished canvas...

Monday, December 01, 2014

Hey all! Didn't realize it's been a month since I last posted...most of November I've been away in Japan. My mother was seriously ill at the beginning of the year and recently started doing rehabilitation (aka starting walking again, etc.) - won't go into details but she is making her slow and good recovery :) I went to harass her and made sure she was doing what she should be! LOL!!

We walked almost every day for two weeks and for SEVERAL HOURS! Her weekly rehab has nothing on us! HA! These are several images that are around my mom's neighborhood....for those who are familiar with Tokyo - it's the Azabu Juban area. WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY!

My mom's apt building

Azabu Juban Entrance/Subway Sta.

Juban Open Market

Mt. Fuji at Sunset (sorry - bad picture)

Tokyo Tower

Most of these pictures were not shared on FaceBook because they were in my NIKON DSLR! LOL!! Hopefully I can get back there in June 2015 - fingers crossed. Hoping to post more soon but have CHA prep work to do which has taken up my time and holiday - no turkey this year. Hanging in there :)